.......I want you and Don Fehr all over ESPN saying the other is a disgrace to mankind, I want ESPN anchors needleesly wondering if baseball will ever survive, and most importantly, I want a better revenue sharing plan than the one it looks like we're going to get.

Major League Baseball and the players union are close to an agreement on a new labor contract and are hoping to have a deal in place by this weekend, The New York Times reported on its Web site Thursday night, citing an unidentified person with knowledge of the negotiations."We have been talking and we continue to talk," union leader Donald Fehr told the Times. He declined to comment further.Rob Manfred, the MLB executive in charge of labor issues, did not return a message from the newspaper.Labor talks have been ongoing since early in the season, and the Times reported that negotiations have lasted into the night recently and that talks also were held last weekend.According to the Times, no major changes are expected in the new labor deal, though revenue sharing and the payroll tax have been the key topics of discussion at negotiations.The existing labor deal, which has been in place since 2002, will expire Dec. 19.